Entry-Level Mirrorless Camera Roundup (2013)

Entry-level mirrorless cameras provide a nice middle ground between fixed-lens point-and-shoots and lower-end DSLRs. It's an ever-growing category with options for photographers of varying skill level and intentions. The common factors in this class are the huge step up in image quality over most compacts and the friendly interfaces aimed at those stepping up from point-and-shoots.

The story of the entry-level mirrorless category is a tale of sensor sizes. Sony, Fujifilm and Samsung's mirrorless models use APS-C-sized sensors, the same larger-sized chips used in traditional DSLRs. Nikon's 1-series, on the other hand, use a 1"-type sensor that's considerably larger than that of an advanced point-and-shoot camera. Sitting roughly in between the two formats size-wise are the Four Thirds sensors used by Olympus and Panasonic's mirrorless cameras. Pentax's tiny Q7 is an outlier - it has a 1/1.7"-type sensor, as found in many advanced point-and-shoots. Accordingly, the camera itself is more point-and-shoot-like in size.

Large sensors present some benefits - they're able to gather more light and generally produce less-noisy high ISO images. Depending on the lens in front of it, larger sensors are also better able to produce the blurry background effect and a look that photographers moving up from point-and-shoots typically want. Here are the cameras we've identified as entry-level mirrorless models:

Beginners who are looking for better-than-smartphone image quality will definitely find it in this class, and may also like how lightweight and portable these cameras are as compared to a DSLR. They make great cameras for everyday, good light shooting and will generally take better low light images than a phone or point-and-shoot.

The way we see it there are two kinds of users who will consider cameras in this class - those who are looking for a point-and-shoot experience with better image quality, and those who are looking for a step-up camera with which to learn the ins-and-outs of photography without going all the way up to a DSLR.

It just seemed Canon panicked and said "We need to make a mirrorless camera!". Plus another lens mount, instead of a EF-S mount. Canon have the money to make a good camera, but maybe they don't won't to give up their DSLR sales.

The Nex 3n best thing? If you can accept that your viewfinder is a tilting screen, it has possibilities. At waist-level your street view is closer to that of all children, and babies in prams and pets, and as with a rolleiflex, or Sony Dsc-R1, you experience this world from more of a child's viewpoint, and candids are a doddle, as nobody really notices you.

Additionally the screen is perfect for series of self-portraits, and my experience with the kit zoom lens this has on a Nex 7 tells me that on a 16MP sensor results will convince, except in corners at wide-angle.Raw allows you to decide on distortion correction (lightroom etc does this) and vignetting yourself. You might want to keep the best lens resolution whilst getting rid of only vignetting and CA (nature, landscape etc).And there's always the completely corrected jpeg there as well for you.

Then there is the almost infallible AF, Face recognition and its 22millisecond shutter lag, so......

Peeve 1 clearly hasn't used both the XA1 and XM1. I have and the image quality of the XM1 is better, and noticeably so. If you know how to get the best out of a camera, the XM1 is a fantastic camera. I don't use auto settings, but did try them and even that produces great results. The XA1 just appears a little better because it is set up to look appealing to the point and shoot users. They just appear a little sharper, something easily changed in most cameras. Takes seconds to make the sharpness of the M1 match the A1. Add to that the better colours of xtran cameras compared to bayern, personal opinion echoed by many, and you have a great camera.

X-A1 is a killer for RAW fans, universally usable RAW files (with or without Adobe DNG converter ) I wish Fuji would do an XT1 with this non-Xtrans sensor , preferably the 24Mp Toshiba one from the D7100

Do you all think Fuji is likely to add wireless remote control to the X-M1's capabilities in the future? And if so, could they do it with a software upgrade? To me, this is one of the most interesting new features now appearing on some of the newest cameras.

Unless there's a hardware provision already in the camera, highly unlikely, no. Much like the need to connect via a wireless router at home, if it's not there, there's no wi-fi. Besides, it'll be another feature to entice you with on the model that replaces it. :) It's ironic how most were mocking Samsung when they implemented this feature in their cams sometime ago...

Wow, gutted. I'm looking for an entry level camera and what do I get? Two recommendations near EUR800. That's pretty much useless for me. Enry level should mean exactly that; very few people have the money to spend 800 on something to enter a hobby or niche. I guess the handful of words on the X-A1 is all I get to go on.

Sorry, DIDEA, but you're wrong. "Entry level" doesn't mean a price that everybody can afford, but the cheapest price range for that class of product. For example, Ferrari's cheapest model might be their entry level model but it doesn't mean everybody can afford one.

I agree Didea I was thinking exactly that when I saw your comment. Some of these "entry level" cameras (entry to what?) are more expensive than decent SLRs. Entry level implies something both affordable and fairly simple and with basic facilities.

I have always been a "full-frame" user, from Nikon F, F2AS, F4, D3, D800. Then I got tired and bought an Oly PM2. Amazing little camera. I admit that I purchased the 12mmf2 and 45mmf1.8 as well as the FL600R flash. This combo does the job for 95% of my needs. I'd start with the kit zoom lens and see if it fulfills your own needs, but the sensor and jpg's that can come out of this little camera are very good. It's good enough for me. Maybe it will be good enough for you. Check it out.

NEX-3N certainly under-appreciated in this group because of the poor user interface. But IQ per dollar spent is probably the best of the lot as prices come down. Just picked up a brand new 3N kit for 300USD. Most pleased for the money spent.

Out of those, X-A1 is very good. X-M1 is the same thing (plus extra headaches if you shoot RAW) for extra $200 or more FOR NO REASON. Different pattern of color filter on the sensor is absolutely not worth it, especially given that it kills details in greenery (make no mistake, in OOC JPEGs too, it is not just RAW problem) and causes color bleed in small colored details (it is simply suboptimal in mathematical sense).

Well, X-A1 is great if you shoot only with the stabilized kit zooms. If you add primes, then E-PM2 is better because it has IBIS (so all your lenses will be stabilized, even legacy ones), its lenses, both zooms and primes, are smaller, lighter and cheaper, and there is a much better selection. And its AF is faster too. Although I would compare E-PL5 (or rather E-PL6 if available) at the same price as X-A1, E-PM2 is in a cheaper class.

M1 is not only slightly better in higher ISO than A1. It also reproduces colors differently. This is very noticeable side by side. M1 delivers the same IQ as the highest end. And it is also faster to focus than any of it. And so is A1. Both of the cameras have some advanced feature which most of the higher end doesn't.

I talked to a Fuji rep at a recent camera show. I was tired of carrying around bigger, heavier equipment when I travel. I am really impressed with what Fuji is doing. When I asked why I should go for the X-M1 over the X-A1, he said, "At high ISO it is a little better." That lines up with what I have seen in your comparisons, and comparisons on other sites.

Is it worth $200 more (28.5% more, if I did the math right) for a little better high ISO; in an entry level category?

This is a serious question. I ditched my DSLR and went with the X-A1 and a few lenses for a travel kit. I wasn't trying to cheap out. I just didn't see the extra value in the X-M1. What did I miss?

"Is it worth $200 more (28.5% more, if I did the math right) for a little better high ISO; in an entry level category?"

It is not REAL better high ISO, it is just higher level of noise filtering embedded into demosaicing process of this pattern because red and blue dots are on average further apart. For the same reasons, colors in small details tend to bleed into each other more than with Bayer pattern.

List is a bit all over the road in terms of price, but it seems to me that, seeing as the Fujifilm X-M1 lists over the Samsung NX300, the NX300 should have been included. It is quite comparable to the X-M1. Both are very similar in size. The Samsung may be slightly behind in IQ (Bayer versus X-Trans APS-C sensor), but the MX300 has an articulating OLED display (better), NFC and WI-FI (better in terms of function), 20MP vs. 16MP, and, no doubt, a better build and better ergonomics. Kit lenses are roughly comparable. I suppose the Samsung doesn't have the cachet in terms of brand, but it is an excellent value, particularly right now.

NX300 also has hybrid AF with phase detection, which the X-M1 does not have, although the difference is probably slight. The X-M1 does have two control wheels, but they are cramped, while the NX300 does have a iFn button on the lens.

I like the X-M1 - I've used it - but all in all I prefer the Samsung and am a bit confused about the calculus in making the list. But I won't lose any sleep over it; there are some excellent cameras on the list.

As mentioned elsewhere in the comment section, the EOS-M's current pricing strongly suggests it's out-of-production and being sold-off cheaply. We want these roundups to retain their relevance for a couple of months, at least, by which stage the remaining EOS-M stock is likely to have run out.

Despite never being offered one by Canon US, we borrowed one and to shoot a samples gallery. I thought I'd also written my impressions of using it, but I can't find a link to that, if I did.

It's not a camera we could currently recommend. The interface is very good, though so, if the lens design isn't contributing too much to the slow focus, the next generation could be really good.

You should not make decisions based on suggestions as you say on your second line, but based on facts.I just got an EOS M for $220 in a local shop, and it is the best deal NOW. In 2 months time, i do not know. I think its the best not only for people who already own canon equipment, which is perfect for those, as you can use lenses and flashes, but for anyone who does not require fast focusing and might want to develop their photo skills further.Video is also amazing, having mic in, though lacks headphone.Oh, i forgot to mention, magic lantern is also available for it.... ;)Cheers

@inas, I am with you. 3 weeks ago I bought an M+2lenses+90EX to replace a 7D being used as 3rd videocamera on weddings.Canon M is on sale aroud there, and can be found on different arrangments.DPReview should have included it. May be adding @RButler forecastings on camera availability as well...BTW, as today, Canon USA has the camera "in their production line". Pls check here http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_m_ef_m_22mm_stm_kitCheers

Seems that many are writing the Sony A3000 off without trying it. B&H sells the 18-55 alone for $298. You can buy the A3000 with this lens now for $350. It's like buying the body for $50! What's not to like or make it a dud? I've been using the A3000 for about a month, also own a NEX7. The A3000 images match the output from the NEX7, and the 18-55 has pretty decent quality as well. Uses the same battery, e-mount lenses work fine. It's true the LCD and EVF are a compromise, but still quite usable. Focus peaking works fine, no problem focusing with adapted manual focus lenses.

A3000 is certainly a good value. Bad camera - but very good value. Total opposite of, say, Olympus E-M1, which is a good camera but bad value.Some people seek value, utility, some people seek pleasurable experience. That is why there is something for everybody.

You can get an Olympus e-pl3 with kit lens for 249€ in Europe. A current model the E-PM2 with kit lens for 420€. A fuji x-m1 the most cheap you can get with a kit lens is 799€. I don't see how these cameras are comparable. The fuji just doesn't belong into this group. For that money you can get a canon 60d and a nikon d7000. Cameras certainly not belonging to entry class.

Entry does not have to mean really cheap. The Fuji XM is expensive but it is the Fuji entry option after the enthusiast XPro and intermediate XE models.. Price is an issue in this category, but it might not be the 'forced to buy the cheapest' issue given that the user level of the camera is the other facet to the article.

"The Fuji XM is expensive but it is the Fuji entry option after the enthusiast XPro and intermediate XE models.."

Their entry option is X-A1, not X-M1. X-M1 is the same as X-A1 with broken color filter which allowed them to save money by not including antialiasing (low-pass) filter - for the price of color bleeding and low color detail as the consequence (although better black-and-white detail which only matters for test chart). And the cheap trick eliminated only vertical and horizontal Muaré, but diagonal is still there. I would think such compromises for the missing LP filter should put value of X-M1 at $50 or so BELOW X-A1, but they want $200 more?!? Ridiculous. Only heavy marketing of "X-Trans" brand to those who do not understand how demosaicing works can explain it.

A 1"-type sensor is NOT, as mentioned, "slightly larger in size than that of an advanced point-and-shoot camera."It has TWICE the area of a 2/3" sensor (fuji X20, XQ1) and 2.7x the area of the more common 1/1.7" (G16, LX7, XZ-2, etc.)

Nice write up. Most of the tourists I see lugging around DSLR's would be better served with one of these. (Or an RX100 for most situations). And GM-1 and Fuji's are just gorgeous. Do miss the availability of a fully articulated LCD on all the models listed though.

People don't exactly "lug around" a consumer DSLR like a T5i, D5200 or K-50. Those cameras are small, lightweight, offer bright, clear viewfinders for easier framing/composition and have available tons of inexpensive large aperture primes and zooms. And for IQ, it doesn't get much better out of all the crop sensor cameras.

Nope, people do "lug around" a consumer DSLR compared to this group. Consumer DSLRs have lost their reason for being - people don't have to do that anymore and coming from cell phones and entry compact cameras, they don't want to.

The IQ of consumer DSLRs is no better than the m4/3rds cameras like the GM1 and EPM2 and probably worse.

Still, they keep buying dslrs, just check the best-selling list of all digital cameras at Amazon, a Rebel and the D3200 at top 1-2. Now try to find any of the DPR's choices or any ML, for that matter, among the top100. I saw 3, firstcwas the Pentax Q, very disounted. Of course, those peope are just ignorant folks fooled by the "bad guys".

Yes they do. After a several hours touring with one of these, they start to hurt neck and shoulders.

" Those cameras are small, lightweight,"

No they are not.

" offer bright, clear viewfinders "

Except for k-50, their viewfinders are just awful. Tiny, imprecise (not 100% coverage), and with consumer kit zooms, quite dim too (and the latter includes k-50). Except of course when you get sun in the frame by mistake - then they will hurt your retina.

Why didn't the E-PL5 make the list? Four or five other brands got two models featured... I'm just curious really, no skin in the game. I've got a GF6 myself (though the choice was between it and the Oly, for the newer sensor). Nice roundup, dizzying array of good options really.

My guess is that it did not make it because it is just a slightly bigger and thicker PM2 with a PASM dial and a tiltable screen. But what do you need the PASM dial for, if, as soon as you leave the P mode, you must anyway rely on the touchscreen to set the shooting parameters? So, you might just as well forgo it and save yourself a 100 (USD, EU, or BP).

Is the E-PL5 really that reliant on the touchscreen? Somehow I doubt it but it's been a while since I read the reviews... I can adjust anything on my GF6 without ever touching the screen, if I wanted to (the screen is just quicker for certain things), and Panasonic usually has a more full featured touch UI. Pressing up on the rear dial lets you change between shutter and aperture for example...

I have read some comments in the web about the huge distortions of theNEX 3N's 16-50 lens.They comment that the camera corrects the problem automatically when in jpeg mode.What about RAW.I dont use Photoshop ,so I wish I knew whether the Sony raw converter resolves the problem .

Sites which test RAW lens performance (including maximum CA and vignetting) without correcting for distortion first simply do it wrong. Correcting of distortion simply pushes the worst offending regions of image frame (corners) beyond image frame (for barrel distortion - which coincides with FLs having bad vignetting etc), so those awfully vignetting corners (usually with high CA too) simply never make it in the final image - for the price of slightly lower sharpness at the edges of the frame ("awful" 5% distortion can be corrected for the price of as low as 5% reduction in sharpness, which for sharpness is nothing).And most sites like DxO which started testing lenses before the corrections became standard (often parts of new lens mount electronic protocols for mirrorless where lenses store their own distortion profiles) do it wrong, so don't waste your time checking mirrorless lenses at them.Lateral CA is just 3 distortion profiles - separate for each color channel. Easy.

Entry level cameras should be cheap and two of the winners are just damn expensive. The Samsung NX1100 and the Nex-3n are real entry level cameras with under 300 Euro.I would never recommend a camera which costs twice as much to a beginner. That's just no entry level.

Agree with you here. Just because the fuji is entry-level in relation to the other fuji models, doesnt make it an entry level camera in relation to the mirroless market. Why not pick the cheapest leica ILC and say it was the best entry level camera?Not saying the fuji isnt a fantastic camera (the truth here is that any modern camera is pretty great), just that this roundup would be more helpful if it were: "Whats the best mirrorless ILC for X amount of $$$" Rather than what youve done here.

I think the categories entry-level, mid-level, enthusiast and professional mostly refer to the feature sets, ergonomics and build quality of the cameras, not their price. Of course, there is (or should be) a correlation between these things, but still - if the NEX-3N had cost $3000, that wouldn't have made it a pro-grade camera; it would still be an entry-level camera, albeit a very expensive one. Likewise, had the Nikon D4 cost only $300, it would still be a pro-grade camera, but an extremely inexpensive one.But if you define the camera categories mainly based on the price point, then I certainly understand your reasoning.

I think what Revenant is saying makes sense, although they did pick a best in class + a value winner in some of the other roundups... (EM5 + G6, RX100 + S120) I guess the Nikon could be viewed as the value pick here, although it's probably not the strongest pick if action shots aren't the top priority.

A value pick in addition to the Fuji instead of singling out the GM1 for it's size might've made sense, it's size advantage is rather obvious anyway... Could've just left it as a honorable mention or whatever (along with the Nikon). I guess people just want more structure to these things.

I kinda like how the roundups took shape as is though, specially if it makes it easier to update them later (more rigid categories, price limits, etc would make it harder to recommend or highlight new and different models, i.e. something like the GM1).

What about the Canon EOS M? It is small, easy to use, has two excellent kit lenses, a nice touch screen interface, a large sensor, and after the latest firmware update, it delivers decent enough AF speed.

2012 camera, so as was mentioned in other articles, not in the running. HOwever, with the recent price crash, the M has become extremely attractive - especially with the cheap 22mm f2 lens that comes with it. M4/3 charges $400-500 for essentially the same lens. NEX doesn't even have a fast pancake.

@tkbslcA 2012 (or older) camera is still in the running, if it's the current model. The E-PM2, for example, is a 2012 model, but it hasn't been replaced yet. Likewise with several cameras in the other categories, such as NEX-7 and E-M5.

Horrible AF? Really? The AF on mine works very well. I think it's an ideal camera for a beginner, or for an advanced photographer, who wants a small companion to A DSLR. The image quality is superb, and the camera lets you do what you want to do. It's not a sports camera, but very few are. I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to take fast action shots. The M with the 22mm pancake is selling for about $300 right now. That combination is far better than mirrorless options selling for more than twice the price. In fact, it's better than any other camera + lens combination for under $800.

2Alastair NorcrossI guess depends on what you shoot, but after you compare focus speed and reliability with m43, eos m falls way behind. Current next cameras on the other hand are rather close to m43 level.

So really depends on what is good enough for you. Personally I really dislike sluggish devises even when I don't really need lighting fast response.

I agree that the focus speed on the M isn't lightning fast, but it's perfectly fast enough for anything other than sports. I also have the 7D, so I know what lightning fast AF is. On the other hand, the M's AF is incredibly reliable. I'm actually enjoying shooting with the M more than with any other camera I've used. It really lets you concentrate on the photographic essentials. It's a perfect street camera and indoor camera. The results speak for themselves. I've seen many shots from NEX cameras, and they're pretty good, but not up to the M's. It's probably the lenses. The 22mm pancake is simply superb, and I'm comparing it with the 5 L lenses I own.

I purchased the M when the prices dropped and they came out with the new firmware update. I too have the 7D for sports and action shots. I also have the G1X which I enjoy immensely. I have absolutely no regrets purchasing the M. I recently received the 11-22 lens and find it is a jewel. Perhaps the M is of no interest to many, and I understand that, but I am extremely pleased with mine.

i think fuji xa1 is a very good choice.its noise performance is better than all other in its class and on par with some full frame cams. detail is a bit tricky but if you dial back sharpness and turn noise reduction to -2 then u have much better results. colorwise i think xm1 is a bit inferior to xa1 on its jpegs. i had both cameras and also a nex 5r at hand to compare them. at 6400 iso xa1 is much better than both the xm1 and the nex 5r.

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